Method of and apparatus for cleaning and controlling paper in printing presses



Nov. 29, 1960 c. c. DOYLE 2,961,952

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND CONTROLLING PAPER IN PRINTINGPRESSES Flled Sept 28, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,UUII "mum [I I nmnmmmummmINVENTOR. MC fi h United States Patent METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FORCLEANING AllzllgsEgONTROLLlNG PAPER IN PRINTING Charles .C. Doyle, 34103Lake Shore, Willoughby, Ohio;

" Helen Lefton, executrix of said Charles C. Doyle,

' deceased, assignor to The J. E. Doyle Company, Cleveland, Ohio, acorporation of Ohio Filed Sept. 28, 1956, Ser. No. 612,625

7 Claims. (Cl. 101-416) This invention is concerned with the cleaning ofsheet and webmaterial and particularly sheet and web materialsuch aspaper as used in the printing industry. The invention is directed toimprovements in methods and apparatuses for use in modern printingpresses.

Recently it has become a common practice to apply starch powder toprinted surfaces to prevent the off setting and smearing of wet ink onthe printed sheet or web. While such practice permits of the more rapidprinting orspeeding up of the press, a problem develops in that theloose starch is detrimental to subsequent prints on the starch dustedsheet or web. The starch is picked up by the'ink' during subsequentprinting thus contaminating the ink and weakening the color thereof whenthe paper is run through the press the second time. The starch also hasthe tendency to fill the screen surface of half-tone plates causing aspotting effect in printed pictures and the starch also fills in thepockets of small printing type.

The practice to overcome the foregoing disadvantages, is to stop thepress and clean or scrub the type and halftone plates with a suitablecleaner to remove the accumulation of lumped starch and ink.

, The general object of the present invention is the provision of avacuum cleaning method and apparatus which i will eliminate thetroublesome starch before the sheet or web reaches the second printingstage or run and which are also effective in removing dust, lint, andother foreign matter on the surface or edges of the paper and which areadaptable for use on various types of presses such .as letter presses,lithographing presses, offset, gravure, screen printing and textilepresses.

While the use of a suction manifold on a printing press is old. I have,found that an equal suction across the sheet or web does not facilitatethe elimination of air pockets on the underside of the sheet to beprinted and which usually results in the formation of wrinkles in thepaper and spoiled stock. Wherefore a further object of the presentinvention is the provision of a method of applying a cleaning suction tothe sheet surface to be printed in such a manner as to prevent wrinkleformations. A still further object is the provision of a suctionapparatus for the fulfilling of the above mentioned method.

Other objects of the invention hereinafter become apparent to thoseskilled in the art and the essential characteristics are summarized inthe claims. In the drawings I Fig; 1 is a perspective view of one formof the novel apparatus for carrying out my method;

Fig. 2 is a top plane view of a single throat manifold structure; Fig. 3is an end view of the manifold showing several nozzle members asarranged in the suction end of the singlethroat manifold;

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of one of several nozzle structures aspositioned in the suction end of the manifold structure; Fig. ,5 isafragmental elevational view of a brush structure and adjusting andclamping means therefor;

2,961,952 Patented Nov. 29,

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Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 2showing a valve means in a side wall of the manifold structure;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective of a nozzle membe showing therelative depth of the obliquely arranged grooves of the sheet contactingsurfaces of the nozzle member; and Fig. 8 is a cross section takenthrough the hose clamp where attached to the intake of the suction pumpshown in Fig. 1.,

Referring to the drawings in Fig. 1 I show diagrammatically my apparatusattached to and associated with one type of press. The apparatuscomprises a motor driven suction pump unit 15 with a filter bag 16attached to outlet branch 17 of the suction pump. The intake branch 18of the pump is attached to a flexible conduit 19 adapted to extendthrough the press frame to a manifold structure 20 supported .on thepress frame by adjustable means (not shown). The pump unit is ofsufficient capacity to exceedany suction requirements of the nozzle ofthe manifold. 7

Another problem is to provide a manifold structure which can be confinedto restricted space between the rolls of the press of very substantialwidth but capable of brushadjustment. In Fig. 1 the manifold is showndisposed with its nozzle and brush structure in a restricted spacebetween feed roll A, platen roll B and impression cylinder C and whichis a typical installation.

The manifold structure 20 preferably is built up of light gaugestainless steel sheeting to have a rear wall 22., a like front wall23and side walls 61. The shapes of the respective manifold walls are suchthat the throat of the manifold will be of substantially increasingvolumetric capacity from nozzle end to top end of the manifoldstructure. It is to be understood that in some installations where spaceand clearances with respect to the press rolls is not so limited theforward wall 22 would be a top wall. I

As' shown in Fig. 4 I employ a brush structure 25 adjustably attached tothe nozzle and manifold structure and the brush structure is adjustablerelative to the nozzle and manifold structures in a manner to be setforth.

The nozzle structure comprises nozzle units 30 pro-, vided withelongated suction passageways 3-1 and having a sheet contacting surface32 in which is formed a series of grooves 33 to extend at an angleobliquely to the line.

of travel of the sheet. It will be noted in Fig. 3 that the grooves 33extend in a direction sloping outwardly from the center of the manifoldstructure i.e. from the center of the moving sheet with respect to theside portions of the sheet relative to the center line direction oftravel of the sheet. 7

The nozzle members are shown in Fig. 3 arranged. in sets of two for eachhalf of the manifold structure but it is to be understood that thenumber of nozzle sets to be used will be dependent upon the sheet widthcapacity of the press and the width of the manifold thus is like- Wisedetermined. V V

The opposite end of the bolt 42 is provided with a clamping nut 52 andwasher 52a and has a wrench socket 53 in the end thereof. Thus the boltserves the purpose of securing the manifold structure to the nozzlestructures there being at least two bolts for each brush structure. Whenit is desired to adjust the brushes .relative to the paper sheet or webthe press is inched along until the more or less fiat'side F of thepaper feed roll A is opposite the nozzle structure thus affordingclearance for the hand of the operator between the feed roll and frontof the manifold structure. Clamping nuts 52 may then' be loosened andthe'bolts 42 turned with an'Alln' wrench 54 shown in dot and dash linestang-4.1 am pinion 48 fixed on the bolts 42 may thus be manipulated toraise or lower the brush holder racks 50 and accordingly the brushbristles relative to the paper and to the nozzle structures. Tighteningof nut 52 while holding bolt 42 with the wrench 54 assures the retentionof the brushes in adjusted position.

The manifold is provided with means for controlling the degree ofsuction force to be applied to the paper at the center of the movingsheet or web and at the sides thereof. I have discovered that byapplying more suction force at the central region of the moving sheetthan prevails at the side portions of the sheet air pockets beneath themoving sheet can be eliminated thus avoiding wrinkle formations in thesheet as it reaches the impression cylinder. By increasing the suctionforce on the center of the moving sheet or web relative to the sidesmore tension is exerted at the center by the pull of the impressioncylinder of the press thus causing any air beneath the sheet to escapeoutwardly toward the side edges of the sheet.

Referring to Fig. 6 I show a sliding valve structure formed in the sidewalls of the manifold structure. Thus elongated openings 60 are formedin the side walls 61, the extent of the openings being varied by slidingvalve members 62, whereby the section may be adjustably diminished atthe sides relative to the center of the web. Slideway straps 63 securedto the side walls 61 slideably support the valve over the opening 60.

In some instances 1 find it advantageous to use deflector plates 65 (seeFig. 2) in the throat of the manifold to further the regulation of thecentral and side suction forces. 'Ihese plates also serve to stiffen thefront and back Walls of the manifold structure.

In Fig. 4 I show the manifold walls 22 and 23 converging to have asuction inlet 40 substantially equal to the inlet capacity of the nozzlesuction passageways 31. The ends of the manifold walls are flaredoutwardly and-then extend parallel to receive the nozzle structures perse. Flanges 41 on the manifold are provided to fit slots in the sidefaces of the nozzles and the nozzles are held in fixed relation to themanifold walls by bolts 42. The bolts 42 also serve to secure the brushstructures 25 to the manifold and nozzle structures and it is desiredthat the brushes be adjustable relative to the moving paper and thenozzle structure.

In many installations there is insufiicient space or room available toadjust the brushes from the rear side (side 22) of the manifoldstructure. To meet this condition I have devised a brush holderadjusting and clamping means which can be manipulated by the pressmanfrom the forward side 23 of the manifold structure. In Figs. 4 and Ishow the bolt 42 extending from rear to front side of the manifold andnozzle structures. The bolt head 47 is disposed on the rear side andthrough washer 47a engages the face of the body 45 of the brushstructure 25. Upwardly extending lugs 46 are formed on the brush body 45with elongated openings 49, one wall of which is in the form of a gearrack 50. A gear pinion 48 of sufficiently small diameter to operate inthe elongated opening 49 is fixed to the bolt 42.

Since the apparatus is adaptable for use in cleaning sheet stock ofvarious thicknesses ranging from tissue gauge to cardboard gauge theoverall suction forces will be accordingly varied. For this purpose Iprovide a venting valve 68 (on Fig. 2) in one of the manifold walls22-23 centrally located near the outlet structure of the manifold. Thiscontrol could be located anywhere in the duct 19 as for instance in thecollar 69 (see Figs. 1 and 8) with radial openings 70 formed in thecollar, duct and inlet branch 18 of the suction pump. Loosening andturning of the collar 69 affords the regulation.

From the foregoing description of my invention it will be apparent tothose skilled in the art that tensioning of the paper as it passesbetween the platen and impression rolls can be varied across the sheetto control slewing and/ or wrinkling without relying entirely upon thebrushing action of the brushes to fulfill these functions; The nozzlegrooves 33 have a smoothing action upon the sheet exerted outwardly fromthe central region of the sheet or web at both sides of the sheet. Thesuction force control at the nozzles, so that more tension is exerted onthe central region of the sheet, eliminates pockets of air beneath thesheet which are usually the cause of wrinkling. The brushes can beadjusted conveniently to fulfill the starch and dirt loosening functionfor which they are primarily intended.

On some work the action of the suction air traversing the grooves 33 issufficient to maintain the sheet unwrinkled as the sheet is tensioned bythe platen and compression rolls, while in other instances the same canbe effected by regulation of the suction forces along the nozzles asexplained. On the other hand paper with bad slewing tendencies issometimes encountered where both actions are combined to maintain thepaper in an aligned run through the press. r

I claim:

1. The method of cleaning and preventing wrinkle formations in a sheetof moving paper being fed through a. printing press comprising exertinga sheet cleaning suction across the surface of the sheet to be printedtransverse to the direction of movement of the sheet and ata feed rolland regulating the degree of suction on the moving sheet so that agreater suction effort is exerted at-the center of the moving sheet thanupon the side portions of the sheet, thereby to aid removal of any airpockets occurring between the underside of the sheet and feed roll,while directing over the surface of the sheet to be printed indirections obliquely outwardly relative to the central region of thesheet but toward the direction of sheet movement streams of air causedby said suction, and then brush-wiping the impression side of the sheetwhereby brush-loosening of deleterious matter is effected upon theimpression side of the sheet after any air pockets have been eliminatedfrom the underside of the sheet.

2. An attachments for cleaning a moving sheet of paper and the likecomprising a single chambered suction manifold structure having anelongated opening, a suction nozzle structure secured in said opening insealed relation to the manifold, said Suction nozzle structure having apaper engaging surface with air passage grooves formed therein in spacedrelation along the length of the nozzle to extend obliquely relative tothe direction of travel of the paper, said grooves along one half of thenozzle surface being directed in oblique sense reversed to that ofgrooves formed in the other half of the nozzle surface, a brushstructure adjustably mounted on the nozzle structure rearwardly of saidpaper engaging surface relative to the direction of movement of thepaper for wiping the impression side of the paper, and brush securingmeans extending through the nozzle structure for adjustably securing thebrush structure to the nozzle structure.

3. An attachment for the purposes stated comprising a single chamberedsuction manifold structure having an elongated opening, a suction nozzlesecured in said opening in sealed relation to the manifold, and apowered suction unit, conduit means extending between the manifold andunit, said suction nozzle having a paper engaging surface, said manifoldstructure comprising upper and lower walls and side walls converginginto a suction duct branch and said side walls having respective suctionregulating valve means adjustable to maintain a greater suction force atthe center of the nozzle opening than at theends of the nozzle opening.

4. An attachment for the purposes stated comprising a single chamberedsuction manifold structure, a web engaging nozzle carried in the inletend of the manifold structure, nozzle suction reglating means on themanifold structure for varying the degree of suction action ofthe endsections of the nozzle relative to the central section of the nozzlewhereby the suction action of the nozzle on the central region of theweb can be maintainedto be greater than the suction action of the nozzlealong the side portions of the web, suction control means on themanifold for regulating the overall suction action of the nozzle on theweb, and spaced grooves in the web engaging surface of the nozzleextending in oppositely oblique directions on opposite sides of thecenter of the nozzle.

5. A paper cleaning attachment for printing presses comprising amanifold structure having converging top and bottom walls forming anozzle receiving opening adapted to extend the printing width of thepress, nozzle members disposed in the elongated opening, said nozzlemembers having elongated suction openings and an adjacent papercontacting surface, said surface having parallel slots formed thereinwith the slots in one half the nozzle paper contacting surface extendingobliquely to the direction of movement of the paper and the other halfof the nozzle surface having slots therein extending in like manner butat an angle reverse to the angle of the first said slots.

6. An attachment for printing presses adapted for continuous webprinting comprising a manifold structure having converging front andback walls forming a nozzle receiving opening adapted to extend thewidth of the web, nozzle members disposed in the elongated opening, saidnozzle members having elongated suction openings and an adjacent webcontacting surface, said manifold having side walls connecting the frontand back walls and valve means in each of the side walls for loweringthe suction forces at each side of the manifold.

7. An attachment for cleaning a moving paper sheet and the likecomprising a single chambered suction manifold structure having anelongated opening adapted to be disposed transversely of a path of papertravel, a suction nozzle secured in said opening in sealed relation tothe manifold, a powered suction unit, conduit means extending betweenthe manifold and unit, said suction nozzle having a paper engagingsurface, suction varying means disposed between the powered suction unitand the nozzle for varying the degree of suction efiected upon the sheetby the suction unit as the sheet is drawn through a printing press, andan adjustable non-rotating brush extending the transverse width of thenozzle and mounted behind the nozzle with reference to the direction ofpaper travel, said brush mounting including brush securing and adjustingmeans extending through the nozzle structure and projecting forwardly ofthe nozzle whereby the brush adjustment may be effected at the forwardside of the nozzle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.14,136 Doyle May 23, 1916 1,089,453 Wood Mar. 10, 1914 1,094,364 BulgerApr. 21, 1914 1,096,471 Stevens May 12, 1914 1,120,840 Niles Dec. 15,1914 1,129,274 Clements Feb. 23, 1915 1,196,090 Doyle Aug. 29, 19161,196,438 Doyle et a1 Aug. 29, 1916 1,196,439 Doyle Aug. 29, 19161,207,161 Goldsmith Dec. 5, 1916 1,404,636 Mustee Jan. 24, 19221,737,174 Price Nov. 26, 1929 1,830,287 Ohlin Nov. 3, 1931 1,867,256Egli July 12, 1932 2,022,593 Fuykers Nov. 26, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS243,851 Germany February 1912 392,326 Great Britain May 18, 1933 167,188Switzerland Feb. 15, 1934 489,819 Great Britain Aug. 4, 1938

